4 nameless former housekeepers for Motown legend Smokey Robinson have claimed in a lawsuit he allegedly carried out a number of sexual assaults on them whereas they labored for him.
The alleged assaults are mentioned to have taken place on the singer’s Los Angeles residence between 2007 and 2024, in response to the ladies, who’re looking for at the very least $50m (£37m) in damages in a civil case filed within the metropolis.
Additionally they accuse him, within the go well with, of making a hostile work surroundings, forcing them to work illegally lengthy hours and failing to pay what they had been owed.
Picture:
Smokey Robinson and his spouse Frances in Los Angeles in 2024. Pic: Reuters
The claimants say that Robinson, 85, would wait till he was alone with them in the home earlier than finishing up the alleged assaults, regardless of their objections.
All the ladies, who’ve withheld their names for privateness causes, ultimately resigned over the assaults, the lawsuit claims, although in some circumstances it took a number of years.
In accordance with the go well with, they feared coming ahead over fears of retaliation, public disgrace and attainable results on their immigration standing.
The declare additional states that Robinson’s spouse, Frances Robinson, enabled his behaviour.
It additionally says she was chargeable for making a hostile work surroundings and shouted at them and used ethnic insults.
One lady suffered at the very least 20 assaults from 2012 till 2024, the lawsuit alleges, whereas one other who labored for the couple from 2014 till 2020 was mentioned to have been assaulted at the very least 23 occasions.
A distinct lady whose claims are made within the go well with accused Robinson of assaulting her seven occasions, together with at the very least one rape, within the years she labored for them.
The fourth lady claimed related experiences to the opposite ladies however didn’t say what number of occasions she was allegedly assaulted through the 18 years she labored for Robinson.
She additionally acted as Frances Robinson’s private assistant, hairdresser and prepare dinner, she mentioned.
The declare for damages relies on sexual battery, assault, false imprisonment, gender violence and different allegations.
One of many ladies’s attorneys mentioned they’d welcome a prison investigation however the ladies had not filed police experiences but, as that they had been held again by the identical fears that stored them from coming ahead initially.
Robinson, a member of each the Rock & Roll Corridor of Fame and the Songwriters Corridor of Fame, was among the many greatest hitmakers of the Sixties – each along with his group The Miracles and as a solo artist, with songs together with The Tears Of A Clown and The Tracks Of My Tears.
He was a central a part of the Motown Data music machine in his hometown of Detroit as an artist, producer and songwriter for different artists.
